---

1 Sept 2004 : Column 689W—continued

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Denzil Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries which the Government (a) knows and (b) believes, to possess weapons of mass destruction. [183679]

Mr. MacShane: Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), five states—the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Russia and China—are legally entitled to possess nuclear weapons. Additionally, India and Pakistan have both carried out tests of nuclear explosive devices. We regularly urge Israel to resolve international concerns about its nuclear status by acceding to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapons state. We continue to believe that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) has both the materials and the technical capability to produce nuclear weapons. We also remain very concerned that Iran continues to have ambitions to manufacture nuclear weapons.

All States Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention that have declared possession of chemical weapons are in the process of destroying their stocks of these weapons in accordance with their obligations under the Convention.
 
1 Sept 2004 : Column 690W
 

We warmly welcome recent moves by Libya to abandon its programmes for the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

We continue to believe that Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was pursuing programmes for the development of WMD and are also concerned by persistent reports that Syria is also pursuing such programmes.

We regularly urge all countries to sign, ratify and abide by the obligations of all Treaties and Conventions covering the proliferation of WMD.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Service Management Code

Alistair Burt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what representations he has received to seek amendment to the Civil Service Management Code in order to allow an appeal process in relation to personnel matters which is independent of the Department in which the complaint arose; if he will take steps to make such an amendment; and if he will make a statement. [185624]

Mr. Alexander: Other than that received from the hon. Member no other representations have been received from hon. Members to seek amendment to the Civil Service Management Code's rules on personal grievance appeals.

Every civil servant has a right of appeal against a management decision that affects them adversely and departments and agencies have delegated authority to determine appropriate arrangements for hearing such appeals and I am not convinced that there are any compelling reasons to change the current arrangements.

Consultants

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how much his Office spent on (a) head hunters and recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available; [185237]

(2) how much has been spent by his Office on (a) advertising and (b) public relations consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available. [185239]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 19 July 2004]: Financial information prior to the 1997–98 financial year was produced on a previous accounting system and cannot be readily be retrieved without incurring disproportionate cost.

The Cabinet Office spent £282,000 on advertising and £15.244 million on external consultancy in 2003–04. This figure may change due to accounting adjustments and is subject to final audit. External consultancy incorporates consultancy in several areas including financial, information technology and communications.
 
1 Sept 2004 : Column 691W
 

Expenditure on headhunters, recruitment consultants, management consultants and public relations consultants is contained within the external consultancy figure and cannot be separately identified without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departmental Costs

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the total administration costs were in his Department in financial years (a) 1996–97 and (b) 1997–98. [186064]

Mr. Alexander: Details of the Department's gross running costs for 1996–97 and 1997–98 are contained in Table 5.5 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2000–01 (Cm 4601). These figures are on a cash basis. From Public Expenditure Analyses 2001–02 (Cm 5101), departments' administrative expenditure was reported on a resource basis, as administration costs.

Copies of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses are in the Library and are on HM Treasury's public website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk).

Departmental Staff (Upper Age Limits)

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which it is responsible (i) have a set retirement age which applies to all or most personnel
 
1 Sept 2004 : Column 692W
 
and (ii) have a maximum age beyond which applications for employment will not be considered; and what the age is in each case. [186086]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office and its agencies (Government Car Despatch Agency and Central Office for Information) have flexible retirement and recruitment age policies.

The normal retirement age is 60 except for industrial staff in GCDA where the normal age is 65.

There is no set maximum age beyond which employment will not be considered.

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cases against his Office and the agencies for which it is responsible have been brought to employment tribunals in each year since 1997 in relation to (a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal; how many cost awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants; and how much has been spent (A) settling and (B) contesting claims. [181462]

Mr. Alexander: The information in respect of the Cabinet Office and its two agencies, COI and the Government Car and Despatch Service (GCDA) is shown in the table.

	Equal pay	Sex discrimination	Race discrimination	Disability discrimination	Unfair dismissal
1997	0	2	0	0	0
1998	0	0	0	0	0
1999	0	0	0	0	0
2000	0	0	1	1	0
2001	0	0	1	1	2
2002	0	(2)1	0	0	1
2003	0	0	0	0	(3)1

⁽²⁾ Same case as the one originally brought in 1997. The total cost of contesting the case is recorded in 2002.
⁽³⁾ Case is on-going.
Notes:
1. Figures given are for current Cabinet Office agencies and the year the case was settled.
2. The figures are supplied by the Treasury Solicitor's Department, which is responsible for litigation on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Total cost involved in contesting claims in each year and the number of settlements is shown in the table.

	Number of cost awards made:
	(i) Respondents	(ii) Applicants	Costs of contesting claims (£)	Number of settlements
1997	0	0	1,674	0
1998	0	0	0	0
1999	0	0	0	0
2000	0	0	4,055	0
2001	0	0	15,800	1
2002	0	0	6,480	1
2003	0	0	4,000	1

Notes:
1. Figures given are for current Cabinet Office agencies and the year the case was settled.
2. The figures are supplied by the Treasury Solicitor's Department, which is responsible for litigation on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

The total cost of settlements over this period was £36,379. Information about how much was spent on settling individual claims has been withheld to protect the confidentiality of individuals.

Government Car and Despatch Agency

Mr. Bacon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were employed in the Government Car and Despatch Agency (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which information is available, broken down by job title; what functions were performed by those holding each job title; and how many people were employed whose primary function was (i) human resource or personnel functions, (ii) finance and accounting functions, (iii) information technology functions and (iv) other support, back office or administration functions. [183579]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 14 July 2004]: The responsibility for the provision of ministerial cars and drivers has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car and
 
1 Sept 2004 : Column 693W
 
Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive Mr. Nick Matheson to write to the hon. member. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library.

---